Fire Doesn't Burn Out, Sweetheart
by ultrasparkysparkyboom
Summary: "Leo was sure, just then, that the worst decision in his life was staying away from his best friends after the war with Gaea was over. Yes, even if he had Calypso by his side again." A story of Leo coming back to Camp Half-Blood after Gaea was defeated, and he had found Calypso.


Leo was having a hard time imagining that his friends would be anything but mad when he came back to Camp Half-Blood with a goddess, Festus, and two suitcases on his person. In reality, he was preparing himself for Frank to turn into a gorilla or something and punching him back to Ogygia. Or maybe Jason would summon lightning and blast him to smithereens. It would be sad to die after finally getting Calypso back, but it'd be a cool death. Leo would be able to die knowing that he did so dramatically, and probably gained a lot of attention from it.

"Leo," Calypso called from behind him; she had her arms wrapped around his torso (he still couldn't get used to the way a thousand mechanical flies danced around his stomach when she did that. Not butterflies though, those were for girls). "You're too tense. Do not worry, you'll be fine."

"Sorry, sunshine," Leo sighed. "I'm just nervous. It's been three months since I last saw them. I can't imagine they'll do anything more than punch me when they see me, and that's _if _they let me live."

"Now you're just exaggerating. They'll be so joyful to see you! Besides, none of them will dare touch you with a goddess by your side."

"Ha, right, because you are so powerful and mighty. Come back to me when you can do something awesome like control Mist or turn into a monkey."

"Says the guy who died by burning up in flames when he's supposedly resistant to fire."

Festus had to agree with that.

"Hey!" Leo exclaimed, "You're supposed to be on my side, not hers!"

_Creak, creak, _Festus said. Apparently, the three months of carrying Calypso around had made him love her more than he loved Leo. _And to think I repaired him, _Leo scoffed.

Still, he couldn't get the anxiousness to leave his body, much less his mind. What if his friends had moved on completely? What if they'd forgotten about him? Worse, what if they'd replaced him? Leo doubted that he'd be able to handle being replaced, much less by someone who he knew could be hotter, more charming, and a thousand times more heroic than he was. At least Leo knew that he had Calypso; she wouldn't leave him for one of the other campers.

During those three months of traveling the world, Leo and Calypso had encountered some pretty amazing guys. Yes, even guys who were more hilarious than Leo could ever be. But even through all of that, Calypso stuck by Leo's side and showered him with kisses whenever he said something stupid. Now he knew what Percy felt whenever Annabeth kissed him for being dumb, and to be honest, it was the nicest feeling in the world.

_Creak! _Festus roared, the howling wind a match for his mechanical voice.

Leo felt faint of heart, "You can see it?"

"The camp?" Calypso asked, "Can he see the camp?

Festus let out a particularly loud groan, and then swooped down, descending from the clouds. Leo's stomach went up to his throat, as if it wasn't already enough to have flies in his stomach and sweaty palms. The sun disappeared over the clouds, and Leo started feeling even worse. The heat had been calming, familiar even. Calypso and him had been to generally hot areas for the three months Leo was away, and with the sudden cold that crashed down onto them due to a rainy day in Long Island made him feel like his brain was short-circuiting.

"Uh, maybe we can make a stop before we go to camp? I want a burger, and Chiron only serves us salads. It's disgusting," Leo attempted to sway Calypso.

"How about no," Calypso replied, and that was that. Once she had decided something, there was no way to waver her confidence that that was the right choice. Leo learned that little (huge) fact the hard way.

That was how Leo realized that he had approximately three minutes to come up with a fantastic entrance that would blow everyone off their feet. Maybe he could bring out his straw hat from the island of Malta and then introduce himself as if he had lost his memories. Would that make sense? No, no, Leo wasn't thinking straight. What happened last time he saw his friends?

Oh, right, Madame Dirt-Face had tried to destroy the world. That didn't make Leo feel good. However, they did defeat her in the end and she lied down for an eternal sleep. Okay, now he felt steadier. Since Leo could finally form a comprehensible thought, he remembered that he should have called in so as to prevent the Apollo Cabin from shooting them down. Hm, minor details didn't count.

Festus was just a few feet above the ground when Leo realized that the camp was looking better than ever. The strawberry fields were ripe, the ocean was blue and calm, and there were even new cabins for the minor gods and goddesses. Jason had indeed completed his promise to Kym-what's-her-name. That thought made Leo feel nostalgic for the thousandth time in three months, but then he remembered that he would probably see him (now with dorky glasses) in under five minutes. He felt those darned flies in his stomach again, and had to control himself so he wouldn't burst out into flames.

When Festus landed on the ground, it wasn't a neat or great landing. He wavered, Calypso's suitcases fell from the leather guards Leo had built, and he hit his head with Festus's.

"Ow," Leo moaned. Calypso groaned from behind him, and instantly, Leo was moving with so much speed that someone could have mistaken him for one of those superheroes from the comics. He grabbed Calypso by the waist, careful to not squeeze her too hard, and leveled her down. Sneaking in for a quick peck on the lips, Leo assessed the damage, on both her and Festus. They both seemed to be okay, at least.

Calypso turned her dazed eyes to Leo, "Great landing, Captain."

"But we landed, didn't we? You gotta cut me some slack, Sunshine."

Leo's joking mood was shattered when he heard the collective shouts of multiple people. He hadn't paid attention to what time they would reach Camp Half-Blood, but apparently it was during lunch time. All the campers were sitting on their respective cabin tables, with eyeballs bulging out of their sockets as they took in the sight before them. Festus must have known that everyone was eating because he'd landed right in front of the cafeteria.

Leo wiped his sweating hands on his newly-fixed pants (courtesy of Calypso), and gave the camp a two-finger salute. He smirked with fake confidence as he said, "So, is there space on the Hephaestus table for a dead guy and his literal goddess of a girlfriend?"

Then suddenly, Leo's hand was torn away from Calypso's waist and six pairs of arms were hugging him tightly, as if he had just come back from certain doom. To be fair, his friends probably had thought him dead.

Leo's shirt started turning sticky from all the tears that were making their way down onto his neck and shoulder. Piper had her arms wrapped around his front, and she was sobbing so loudly that it broke his heart as much as it had to be away from Calypso while the war was still going on. Hazel held his right side, Frank next to her, and they were both embracing his arm with so much love it was almost as if that part of him was his whole person.

Jason was holding onto his back, his arms wrapped under Leo's armpits, and his glasses were fogged up from the heavy breathing and tears of everyone around him. Percy and Annabeth had no choice but to hug his left side with as much vigor and longing as Hazel and Frank.

Piper sobbed louder than what Leo thought possible, and then broke apart from him, hitting his chest repeatedly, "Leo, you big pile of schist!" Then she went back to hugging the air out of his lungs.

Leo looked sideways towards Calypso, who only put her hands in the air and smiled as if to say, _I told you the worry was for nothing. Now go deal with the six clingy demigods by yourself. _She walked away from the reunion, knowing she was not needed by them, and went back to speak with Chiron about what had happened during the last three months.

Leo turned his attention back to his friends, and took in the scene before him. All of them were sobbing loudly, even Annabeth, who he hadn't really gotten the chance to get to know that well. Their eyes were red and puffy, at least, the ones he could see. Most of them had their eyes shut tightly. At one point, Percy pinched Leo's arm as hard as he could, which made Leo cry out in pain. Everyone else simply laughed and hugged him harder. It was as if they finally realized that he was real and he was there and he wasn't just an illusion made by Hazel's mist magic.

Leo felt his eyes sting. How had he managed to stay away from his friends for all that time? Sure, he had Calypso, but it had been as if half of him were missing with his friends gone. Why did Leo only become fully aware of the deep nostalgia in his gut at this moment, and how did he ever live with himself when it stabbed him as repeatedly as if it was Octavian and he was a plush bear? The pressure on his chest, particularly his heart, was so strong that he felt it might burst.

Leo started sobbing along with his friends, which made up for a really ugly and unpredictable reunion. At least, Leo thought it was unpredictable. He thought that the reunion would go more along the lines of everyone casting him off to Tartarus and him laughing at how stupid he had been for staying away for so long just as he was falling to his eternal damnation.

Now, Leo had to choke out an "I missed you guys so much" while hugging as much skin to his own as he could.

Hazel broke apart from her crying long enough to let out a disbelieving laugh and say, "How did you do it?"

"Fire doesn't' burn out, sweetheart. It just keeps on going bright." Leo took in a shuddering breath, "Besides, I thought that by now, you'd know that none of us stay dead for too long."

Then, they all returned to the hug, and yeah, Leo was sorry for worrying his friends, and yeah, he'd probably have to make it up to them later. But it was all okay now. They were all okay, and as long as they were okay, Leo was more than great.


End file.
